Worth It
by RMGryffindor
Summary: James is forced to watch Lily's feelings hurt at the Christmas Ball, and even though she has a boyfriend who would kill him for doing anything...he knows that she's truly worth it.  J/L One-shot.


**Author's note: Hey, Maddy of RMGryffindor here! Here's a little Lily/James one-shot I wrote to hold you all off until the next chapter of Teach Me How to Fly is published. :) This was inspired by the song "Worth It" by Luke Conard and Ryan Seiler. Both are in the wreck band Ministry of Magic and are amazing independent YouTube musicians, so check them out! And now here's the story :)**

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><p>James Potter watched from across the Great Hall as Lily Evans stood by her boyfriend, Henry Poynter, and watched him flirt shamelessly with a sixth-year Hufflepuff, Christie Adams. He had never particularly liked Poynter, but now he absolutely hated him. James had been trying to get Lily to go out with him for years, and this year they had become close friends—but if it was him who she had chosen to accompany to the Christmas dance, he would not be treating her this poorly. He would have known that he was the luckiest guy in the world.<p>

What did she see in Poynter, anyway? Sure, maybe the seventh-year did have that classic Ravenclaw intelligence and was the captain of their Quidditch team and was a prefect, but what did that matter? James had brains, too, was the captain of the Gryffindor team, and was not just a prefect but Head Boy. He was sure that Lily had to have felt something as they talked patrolling the corridors all those nights. He had changed so much that year and was no longer the "arrogant toerag" he had been before.

Now, he stood there watching her: her fiery red hair was as gorgeous as ever, but James could tell that something was not right. As she stole glances at her boyfriend talking to Christie, he could just barely see her eyes begin to fill up with tears. There was no way that he could let the girl of his dreams be hurt by her own boyfriend and do nothing about it.

Not even staying to hear the rest of Sirius's story, he walked away from where he stood with his friends and made his way across the Great Hall. James pushed his way through couples and groups on the dance floor, who were all jumping around and singing along to a popular band called the Chocolate Frogs. He didn't let the crowd get in his way, however, and soon enough he was a few feet from Lily.

Noticing him, she attempted to wear a cheery expression, but he knew that she was feeling sad. Poynter had noticed James coming over, too, and was glancing between him and Lily, before the girl he was flirting with had gained his full attention once again.

"Hello, James," Lily said politely. "Having fun?" The boy shrugged.

"Not really. I'm not really one for dances," he replied.

"Me neither." There was a pause as both of them glanced away, James to the dance floor and Lily to her boyfriend. When he glanced back at her, James knew that he had to do something to cheer her up. He couldn't stand to see her like this.

"Do you want to dance with me?" he said quickly, causing her head to snap back at him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, your boyfriend would most likely kill me if you did dance with me, but I wouldn't really care, just, you know, maybe one song, or something?" He was beginning to ramble, feeling nerves creep into him as Lily gave him a skeptical expression.

"You wouldn't care if Henry would most-likely-kill-you for dancing with me?" she said, catching him off guard.

"Erm, yeah… Wouldn't matter to me," said James. "Think of it as my last request. You dance with me and then Poynter would do me in."

"I don't know, I'd think you'd be able to put up a good enough fight," Lily teased back at him, causing a smile to appear on both his face and hers. "Although why you'd be willing to take such a risk is beyond me, of course."

James shrugged, unaffected by her statement. "Well, you'd be worth it is all." Just as he said this to her, the music stopped for a change in songs, and he could see the tiniest of blushes creep up Lily's face. As another fast song started, he reached out his hand to her. After a small moment of hesitation, Lily took it and he led her onto the dance floor.

Once they had reached a gap in the crowd, he took her other hand in his free one and started to dance enthusiastically, hoping to get a laugh out of her. It worked, and when she did he twirled her under his arm. James stole a glance at his friends in the same place he left them: Peter gave him a thumbs-up, Remus winked, and Sirius held up his goblet of pumpkin juice in a salute. He smiled back at them and returned his attention to Lily, who was obviously enjoying herself as she danced with James.

Once he saw that she was not once again moping, he peeked at where Poynter stood with that Hufflepuff: she was glancing between Lily with James and Poynter, while the latter was giving James a very hostile glare. Sure, maybe he was a dead man walking, but when he turned back and saw Lily—her hair bouncing all around her, her green eyes now filled with laughter, and her hands fitting perfectly inside of his—he knew that she definitely was worth it.

The song ended much quicker than he would have liked, but when it did Lily gave him a quick one-shouldered hug and laughed. He was filled with a rush of joy—it was me who made her laugh, he thought. And not that prat Poynter.

As if on cue, Lily's face fell instantly, when she saw her boyfriend continuing to glare at him, the girl he had been flirting with fruitlessly trying to regain his attention. She turned to James, looking very torn about something, and said, "Excuse me for a moment, James. I have to fix something." Without giving him a chance to respond, she walked away, leaving him feeling confused, elated, and saddened.

He remained rooted to that spot as she approached Poynter, laid a hand on his arm, and gestured to the entrance, as if asking him to accompany her out. They both left, looking slightly awkward and surprisingly frustrated with each other, and James let out a very tense sigh. Christie Adams now glared at him, but he didn't acknowledge her at all, instead choosing to return to his friends.

"Wonder what that was all about," said Sirius, holding out a butterbeer for James. He took it and downed half of it in one sip.

"Well, think about it this way Prongs," offered Remus. "Obviously you made her happy, if only for a moment. But I think she just remembered that you were only her friend, and that she had someone that was more than a friend. She still really cares for you. Trust me, I know she does."

Remus's sentiments made James feel a little better, but he was still extremely angry at Poynter. He and his three friends stood in companionable silence for another moments before Peter nudged James and said, "Hey, Poynter's back...what's up with him?"

All three of them instantly glanced over to where Peter was pointing: sure enough, Henry Poynter had returned to the Great Hall and was chatting Christie Adams up again, whispering in her ear very flirtatiously. He nodded his head in the direction of the door and she giggled, also nodding, before he took her hand and led her away.

"What," said Peter.

"The," continued Remus.

"Bloody," muttered Sirus.

"Hell!" finished James, feeling the most confused than any of them. If he was angry at Poynter earlier, that was nothing compared to this feeling. And to think he thought he would be the one getting killed.

All four Marauders were too busy basking in the confusion of that encounter to notice Lily approach James from behind. "Hello, boys," she said, tearing their attention away from the place where Poynter and Adams were standing just a moment ago. Since Lily and James had become so closely acquainted this year, she had also become quite friendly with the Marauders. This only made James like her more: a beautiful, funny, witty, wonderful girl-who could handle hanging out with his crazy friends? Yes please.

"Do you guys mind if I steal James for a moment?" she asked casually. Peter, Remus, and Sirius all yelled, "No!" at exactly the same time a little forcefully, causing Lily to jump about a centimeter.

"That's fine, Lily," James replied, much more civilly than his mates. "And don't mind them."

"I stop minding them a long time ago," she told him, trying not to laugh. Sirius placed his hand over his heart and put on a shocked expression while saying, "Lily, dearest! Try not to hurt my feelings too much, my poor heart can't handle it!"

"Oh, calm down, lover boy. Come on, James," Lily grinned at him and led him away, through the crowds and out the Great Hall, not stopping even when they reached the doors of the castle. They went outside into the chilly December air, but they didn't stop walking until they reached the edge of the lake. Once there, they stood on the shore in a calm quiet, until Lily sighed and wrapped her arms around her body. James could see her breath in the air, and he didn't think she'd ever looked so adorable before: clutching the edges of her slouchy sweater, a piece of red hair falling in her eyes, her small body slightly shivering.

"Oh, are you cold?" he asked, coming closer to her an inch or so. She shook her head and waved him off.

"I'm fine."

"Okay...okay, good...So..."

"Oh, right. I brought you out here, didn't I?" Lily chuckled. "Right, so, um...I have a few things to tell you. Three. Things to tell you, I mean."

"Go ahead," said James, curious as to see why she needed to tell him three things right now. Lily took a deep breath and turned to face him, giving him a small smile that still seemed to light up her whole face.

"First, I'd like to say thank you. Partially thank you for...for dancing with me back there. I needed that. But...that also made me realize some other things. Things I'm grateful for, so thanks for that, too. And while I'm on the subject, just thanks for...for being there. And for being such good friend to me when I didn't even deserve it."

James knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. "What do you mean-"

Lily held up a hand to stop him and smiled. "Nuh-uh, stop, I'm not done talking. The second thing I need to tell you..." She sighed. And looked back into his eyes. "I'm sorry. I've been such a bitch to you over the years, and I never bothered to see that you're really a good guy...and I'm being a bitch to you now too...which brings me to my last thing to tell you. Oh, bugger."

"You alright?"

"Not really."

"Um...okay...and Lily, what in the name of Merlin would make you think that you've been a bitch to me? Or that you are now?" She chuckled again, gazing out across the smooth, black surface of the lake before meeting his hazel eyes once more.

"Cause I've just now realized it. It's taken me this long, so...bleeding...long...to realize that...that I like you, James." He froze up, pausing right in the middle of running his hand through his black hair. His eyes remained trained on hers and he didn't move, didn't blink, didn't even breathe. Lily chose to react to this...well, interestingly.

"Oh Merlin, I've scared you away, haven't I? You've gotten over me now, I'm sure of it, once you've realized how bloody awful I am at life...Oh, shit. Well, um, I guess I'll just be going, see you around...or not..." And with that last awkward statement, she turned and started to walk back up to the castle, the breeze playing with her hair.

It took James much longer than it should have to snap out of the daze he was in and realize that she was walking away after confessing that she fancied him, and if he didn't do anything right now then he would miss what may be his only chance.

Without saying a word, he began sprinting in the direction she had gone. He wasn't too far away, but she did have a beat of a lead on him. But those Quidditch practices hadn't failed him and when he was about five feet away, Lily turned and finally noticed him. He didn't stop his chase even then, or even when she started to say, "Uh, was there something you-"

He only stopped running when he crashed his mouth to hers and kissed her. Hard.

She reacted instantly, if not only after a brief moment of surprise, wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss immediately. He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her with as much enthusiasm as she was kissing him, wanting to drink in every aspect of her: her taste, her touch, her loveliness, her brains, her perfection. But after a while he did start to need oxygen and reluctantly pulled away, resting his forehead on hers.

He opened his eyes to see a small smile on her face, her chest heaving up and down as if she had just run a very long distance. She probably made him feel the same way, too, if the fact that his brain probably decided to stop functioning was enough means for comparison.

Lily opened her eyes, and James was once again struck by how magnificently green they were, even in the dark night. Her smile became larger and his mimicked hers, and after a moment she whispered, "So that's how you feel..."

Ignoring this speculation, James simply asked, "Always knew you were worth it..."

Much to his surprise, Lily rolled her eyes. "Cut the bullshit, James Potter, and just ask me out already." He laughed and kissed her nose, wondering what possibly could have made someone so perfect actually like him.

"That being said...go out with me, Evans?"

"You know, I think I'll say yes this time, Potter."

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><p><strong>Author's note: Awww yay adorable fluff for you guys you're welcome :) You know what would make my day? REVIEWS! You know you want to press that little button down there...go on, go ahead and press it...well, until the next chapter of TMHtF!<strong>


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